Chapter 8

I glance at the card. I don’t understand all the words written on it, but it’s clear she’s educated, working at a prestigious company. I’ve always envied women like this. My own education stopped in elementary school. I hope my sisters get the chance for a life like this, to go to college, land good jobs, fend for themselves.

"Thank you," I tuck her card into my pouch with care, then return to the kitchen, packing her food neatly in one of my expensive flasks.

Luciana insists on paying, leaving more than the cost of both meals on the counter, then slips out. I chase her, but she refuses to take her money back, driving off in a sleek red sports car.

As I watch her go, I notice Robert and his crew roughing someone up down the road, it looks like one of my regulars. I run over.

"What the hell are you doing?" I shove him from behind, he nearly falls flat.

"Fucking Cici," he grins. "What do you think you’re doing?"

"What am I doing?" I ask, looking down at the cowering rogue wolf who comes by every day to buy my food. He doesn’t deserve this. "Why are you beating my customer? What did he ever do to you?"

He’s young, no older than twenty. I tug him closer to my side. "Are you okay?"

Robert and his friends shoot me hateful glances. I glare back. "If you keep messing with me, I won’t take it lying down. Do you understand me?"

"You have no right to be in this land, fucking rogue," Robert snarls, then storms off with his friends.

What’s gotten into him today? He’s always been a punk, but he had some respect. I fed him a few times when his parents kicked the hell out of him. Why is he so vicious today?

"What happened?" I ask my customer, Oliver. His shoulders slump, as though he’s been carrying the weight of the world. Rogue wolves always suffer like this: their food stolen, their homes ransacked, treated like they don’t belong. I’ve always taken a liking to Oliver because I know what life in the wild is like. That’s why I built my shop close to the forest, so those treated like dirt have a safe place to rest.

"Those bastards just started attacking me," Oliver says, wet brown eyes locking on mine. "I saw them do it to a bunch of other people, but I didn’t think anything of it… but now I'm sure they are targeting your customers."

I jerk my chin forward in disbelief. "Targeting my customers? You mean Robert and the others are deliberately stopping them?"

He nods and furious anger envelopes my vision. I almost turn to march straight at Robert and smash him on the head, but I force myself to take two calming breaths. Control. I can’t give in to their behavior. Not here. Once I close up shop, though… I will find him.

"I’m glad you told me," I reassure Oliver, watching relief enter his face. "How’s your mom?" She sells slippers in the wild and last I checked, she was doing okay.

"She’s fine," he says. We walk into the shop together. I don’t charge him for his meal, and I even pack some extra to take home to his mom. As I start keeping an eye on the road for Robert and his gang, my customers begin flowing in as usual. By six, my food is empty.

I clean up, close the shop, and start down the hill toward the pack.

"Robert," I call, knowing he never goes home early. He lives a wretched life, no school, no love, nothing. Maybe that’s why he’s acting out. One of the duties of a pack Luna is to check on members and help them through struggles. I’m not Luna yet, but I want to make sure everyone around me is okay, and Robert certainly isn’t.

I spot him alone in the field, kicking a ball. As soon as he sees me, he tries to run. I chase him.

"Don’t come near me!" he yells, racing toward the other goalpost.

"What happened today?" I ask, panting. I haven’t run in a while, but I’m no slacker, if I want to catch him, I won’t lose. He hugs the goalpost, glaring at me. No older than seventeen, always unkempt, hair unbrushed. He makes me want to throw him in a basin of soap and scrub him like a wild dog.

"Why were you chasing away all my customers?"

"Who said I was?" His chin juts outward with stubbornness.

I pull out a pack of food from my bag and wiggle it in the air. "I know you’re hungry."

"I’m not." His stomach growls embarrassingly. I laugh.

"Well, your body’s honest," I tease, stretching the bag toward him. "Here, take it. And don’t come to my store again to embarrass my customers. I won’t be so nice next time."

He approaches cautiously, like a wary wild dog, sniffs the food, and tears it open. He’s not a rogue, yet he lives like one. I wonder why his parents neglect him. They’re alive but don’t care about Robert, only their other sons.

I start to turn when Robert calls from behind, shoulders hunched. "Cici… don’t say I told you, but… there are people who don’t want you here. Don’t want you to be Luna. So… you shouldn’t be too nice to everyone."

Nothing he says surprises me. When Dante took my hand and brought me to Red Fang land, everyone stared at me like I was a disease. Four years of kindness didn’t soften them. But there’s nothing else I can do, except keep going, keep hoping that Dante and I marry soon.

I found my fated mate… her name is Luciana. His words repeat again.

Luciana. I pull out the card in my pouch. Same name.